The Governor of Niger State, in Nigeria Alhaji Abubakar Bello, has declared that it is senseless for government to sponsor people on pilgrimage. Bello made the declaration in Minna on Monday when he met with the state council of Ulamas during which he told them that government has finally placed the lid on the sponsorship of pilgrims to Mecca for Hajj.
“It makes no sense to spend billions of the peoples money on less than one per cent of the population. “The general population is justified to feel cheated when so much is spent on only about 3,000 people yearly. This is less than one per cent of the population of four million people,” the governor added.
According to Bello, Islam directs that pilgrimage should be for the person with the means and not the individual with access to government. “I don’t believe in using government funds to sponsor people for hajj and then expect Allah to reward me for it; no, that is not what Islam teaches us. If I used my own money, that’s a different thing.”
He said henceforth, the govt would not spend money on pilgrimage beyond such as payment for medical personnel. He alleged that boarding and feeding of pilgrims had often been inflated to siphon money from government.
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Culled from: The Citizen Ng
